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How is it that a boss threatening your livelihood if you don’t do unpaid work not slavery?

So I'm asking this in maybe broadening my understanding. Slave at the root of the definition is A person who is forced against his/her will to perform, for another person or other persons, services on a regular or continuing basis. If your boss holds your life in their hands and threatens to fire you unless you do unpaid work. And they do this on a regular or continuing basis. Then it matches up with the term set above. Keep in mind, if your boss fires you this can make it where you can't afford food, a place to stay, and so on. This is directly why people stick out bad jobs. And this is why the “well they can just quit” argument is BS. “Well they can just quit”, this is like saying. Slaves back in the day could also off themselves, so by that logic they must not been…


So I'm asking this in maybe broadening my understanding. Slave at the root of the definition is

A person who is forced against his/her will to perform, for another person or other persons, services on a regular or continuing basis.

If your boss holds your life in their hands and threatens to fire you unless you do unpaid work. And they do this on a regular or continuing basis. Then it matches up with the term set above.

Keep in mind, if your boss fires you this can make it where you can't afford food, a place to stay, and so on. This is directly why people stick out bad jobs. And this is why the “well they can just quit” argument is BS. “Well they can just quit”, this is like saying. Slaves back in the day could also off themselves, so by that logic they must not been slaves.

I know some might say something like in the modern world you can't be raped or whatever. But if you study the history of slavery, laws around it, and so on. You will find slaves actually did have some rights throughout history. Like in some parts of history if a slave tried to off themselves, then the master could get in trouble. France they switched words around and called it serfdom, and they couldn't hit their “slaves” and they technically didn't own the serfs. In some places slaves couldn't be killed. Some like indentured servant which is a type of slave had different laws around it and many places it was illegal to rape them. And even in some areas depending on the type of slave is depending on how you were treated. Like in some areas temp slaves were treated worse because the other is viewed as a lifetime investment.

The devil is in the details.

So with this understand, the root of slave is being forced outside of your will to do something for another often. It seems to the same.

Now those who might say, well your boss doesn't exactly own you. Yes and no, but it could be argued you are a slave to the state. As someone else said somewhere else

The reality is that luxuries afforded to the very rich and upper class are paid for by tedious and mundane working hours.

For those who say “you have to till the fields” of course, but before when people farmed, they saw a clear benefit to their product, they had independence over their lives, they could take a break and work according to their need and how much they wanted to. Some people in our society work well over the amount of time required to be farming your own food. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of society? Isn’t it supposed to make life easier? It is clear that our society is set up for the benefit of some.

And as I mention above, serfdom was slavery. The lord of the land couldn't sell the serf since they didn't “own” them. But they could sell them by selling land. And like noncompete contracts. If a serf ran away. After a time they became a free person.

So I will ask again. How is it that a boss threatening your livelihood if you don't do unpaid work not slavery?

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